Existing law establishes a motor vehicle inspection and maintenance (smog check) program that is administered by the Department of Consumer Affairs. The smog check program requires inspection of motor vehicles upon initial registration, biennially upon renewal of registration, upon transfer of ownership, and in certain other circumstances. Existing law exempts specified vehicles from being inspected biennially upon renewal of registration, including, among others, all motor vehicles manufactured prior to the 1976 model year. This bill would also exempt from the biennial smog check inspections all motor vehicles manufactured after the 1976 model year but prior to the 1983 model year if the owner submits proof that the motor vehicle is insured as a collector motor vehicle.
The California Constitution authorizes cities and counties to make and enforce within their limits all local, police, sanitary, and other ordinances and regulations not in conflict with general laws, and further authorizes cities organized under a charter to make and enforce all ordinances and regulations in respect to municipal affairs, which supersede inconsistent general laws. Existing law provides that a city or a county may, in the exercise of their police powers, license and regulate businesses operating within their jurisdiction and may fix the rate of the license fee and provide for its collection. Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a city and the board of supervisors of a county to license, for revenue and regulation, and fix a license tax upon, every kind of lawful business transacted in the city or county, as specified. Existing law requires a legislative body of a city or a board of supervisors of a county imposing a license tax upon a business operating both within and outside the legislative body's or board's taxing jurisdiction to levy the tax so that the measure of tax fairly reflects that proportion of the taxed activity actually carried on within the taxing jurisdiction. Existing law, the Quimby Act, which is within the Subdivision Map Act, authorizes the legislative body of a city or county to require the dedication of land or to impose fees for park or recreational purposes as a condition to the approval of a tentative map or parcel subdivision map if specified requirements are met. Existing law, the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982, after a community facilities district has been created and authorized to levy specified special taxes, authorizes the legislative body, by ordinance, to levy the special taxes at the rate and apportion them in the manner specified in the resolution forming the community facilities district. Existing law, the Mitigation Fee Act, requires a local agency that establishes, increases, or imposes a fee as a condition of approval of a development project to, among other things, determine a reasonable relationship between the fee's use and the type of development project on which the fee is imposed. The Mitigation Fee Act also prohibits specified fees from exceeding the estimated reasonable cost of providing the service for which the fee is charged, unless a question regarding the amount of the fee in excess of that cost is submitted to, and approved by, a popular vote of 23 of those electors voting on the issue. This bill would prohibit a city or county from imposing a specified fee or exaction if the total dollar amount of the fees and exactions that a city or county would impose on a proposed housing development is greater than 12% of the city's or county's median home price unless approved by the Department of Housing and Community Development. The bill would authorize a city or county to seek approval from the department to impose a fee or an exaction that would result in the total dollar amount of fees and exactions exceeding that limitation by making a specified finding and submitting a completed application for a waiver. The bill would require the department to develop a standard form application for a waiver in conjunction with the Governor's Office of Planning and Research. The bill would require the department to develop standards to determine whether to grant a waiver and the total dollar amount limitation to which a city or county granted a waiver is subject. The bill would require the department to conduct and post on its internet website an analysis that, for purposes of these provisions, determines the median home price in each city and county of the state. The bill would require the department to create, by January 1, 2023, a nexus study template that must be used by local jurisdictions in determining the nexus between the fee or exaction and the development project, as provided. Existing law requires the department to notify a city or county, and authorizes the department to notify the Attorney General, that the city or county has taken an action that violates specified provisions relating to local government regulation of housing development. Existing law authorizes the Attorney General to bring a suit for specified housing element violations under certain circumstances and to request that a court issue an order or judgment directing the city or county to comply with those housing element provisions. Under existing law, the court retains jurisdiction to ensure that its order or judgment is carried out and is authorized to impose specified fines under certain circumstances. This bill would require the department to notify a city or county, and authorize the department to notify the Attorney General, that the city or county has imposed a fee or exaction in violation of specified provisions of the bill. The bill would authorize the Attorney General to bring suit for a violation under certain circumstances and to request that a court issue an order or judgment directing the city or county to comply with the provisions of the bill. Under the bill, the court would retain jurisdiction to ensure that its order or judgment is carried out and would be authorized to impose specified fines under certain circumstances. The bill would establish the Housing Development Fine and Exaction Cap Account Fund, and would make the moneys in the fund available upon appropriation by the Legislature. Existing law, the Permit Streamlining Act, which is part of the Planning and Zoning Law, requires a specified city, county, or special district to maintain on its internet website a current schedule of fees and exactions imposed by the city, county, or special district applicable to a proposed housing development project. The act requires this information to be presented in a manner that clearly identifies the fees and exactions that apply to each parcel. This bill would revise and recast that provision to additionally require the city, county, or special district to include on its internet website the total dollar amount of those fees and exactions as a percentage of the median home price in the city or county. This bill would prohibit a local agency from imposing a housing impact requirement adopted by the local agency on a housing development project, as defined, unless specified requirements are satisfied by the local agency, including that the housing impact requirement be roughly proportional in both nature and extent to the impact created by the housing development project. The bill, for purposes of these provisions, defines "housing impact requirement" as a fee imposed under the Mitigation Fee Act, dedications of parkland or in-lieu fees imposed under the Quimby Act, a construction excise tax, or landowner-approved taxes imposed under the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982. This bill would prohibit a housing impact requirement from curing deficiencies in a public facility serving existing development, unless the amount of the housing impact requirement is roughly proportional both in nature and extent to the housing development project's impact on the public facility. The bill would prohibit a housing impact requirement from being based on providing a level of service, as defined, that exceeds the existing community's current level of service. This bill would require a local agency to adopt a nexus study that is used to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of these provisions, subject to specified public participation requirements. The bill would require a local agency to make an individualized determination that a housing development project will have the same type and amount of impact projected for a type of development analyzed in the nexus study. The bill would additionally provide that those fees are subject to specified protest procedures. Existing law establishes, among other housing programs, the Multifamily Housing Program, pursuant to which the Department of Housing and Community Development provides financial assistance in the form of deferred payment loans to pay for the eligible costs of development for specified types of housing projects. This bill would establish the Housing Cost Reduction Incentive Program, to be administered by the department, for the purpose of reimbursing cities, counties, and cities and counties for development impact fee waivers or reductions provided to qualified rental housing developments. Upon appropriation, the bill would require the department to provide grants to applicants in an amount equal to 50% of the amount of development impact fee waived or reduced for a qualified rental housing development by issuing a Notice of Funding Availability for each calendar year in which funds are made available for the program, as provided. The bill would require an applicant that receives a grant under the program to use those funds solely for those purposes for which the development impact fee that was waived or reduced would have been used. The bill would require the department to adopt guidelines to implement the program and exempt those guidelines from the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act. This bill would make findings that ensuring access to affordable housing is a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, this bill applies to all cities, including a charter city and a charter city and county. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
The Local Agency Public Construction Act sets forth the requirements for competitive bidding on various types of contracts awarded by local agencies. The act requires county drainage districts to let any contract for the doing of work and furnishing material to the lowest responsible bidder. The act governs levee district contracts in excess of $2,500 for the construction or repair of any levees or associated works, as specified. The act requires reclamation district contracts for any improvement or unit of work, or for materials or supplies, in excess of $25,000 to be let to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder. The act, for certain projects and purchases of materials for projects of a reclamation district, authorizes the reclamation district to exceed those limitations to a maximum of $50,000, if approved by landowners of the district, as prescribed (landowner approval) . This bill would establish a $50,000 threshold amount for county drainage districts for the requirement to let to the lowest responsible bidder. The bill would increase the threshold amount for subjecting levee districts to the act from $2,500 to $50,000. The bill would increase the lowest responsible bidder threshold amount for reclamation district contracts from $25,000 to $50,000 and would delete the landowner approval provisions.
Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, authorizes the Governor to declare a state of emergency during conditions of disaster or extreme peril to persons or property, including epidemics. Pursuant to this authority, on March 4, 2020, the Governor declared a state of emergency relating to the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. On August 28, 2020, the executive branch implemented a 4-tier "Blueprint for a Safer Economy," which identifies a county's COVID-19 risk level for business operations on a scale from widespread risk to minimal risk. On October 20, 2020, the State Department of Public Health and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health issued a guidance document, "COVID-19 INDUSTRY GUIDANCE: Amusement Parks and Theme Parks," which authorizes a small amusement park to operate at limited capacity when its county is in the moderate tier, and authorizes any other amusement park to operate at 25% capacity when its county is in the minimal tier. This bill would express the intent of the Legislature that the executive branch adjust the "COVID-19 INDUSTRY GUIDANCE: Amusement Parks and Theme Parks" document and place all amusement parks, regardless of size, within the moderate risk tier, rather than the minimal risk tier. If the executive branch takes those actions, the bill would require the Department of Industrial Relations to administer a competitive grant for amusement parks to be used by amusement parks to purchase personal protective equipment for their employees. The bill would appropriate $500,000 from the General Fund for the grant program. The bill would also make related findings and declarations.
The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal law, generally disallows passive activity loss and passive activity credits for any taxable year in computing taxable income. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2023, and before January 1, 2028, would provide that the limitations on passive activity losses and credits do not apply to forest management costs, as defined, of up to $25,000, as provided. The bill would also state the intent of the Legislature to comply with the additional information requirement for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law authorizes any person who owns, controls, operates, or maintains any electrical transmission or distribution line to traverse land as necessary, regardless of land ownership or express permission to traverse land from the landowner, after providing notice and an opportunity to be heard to the landowner, to prune trees to maintain clearances, as provided, and to abate, by pruning or removal, any hazardous, dead, rotten, diseased, or structurally defective live trees. Existing law authorizes this abatement at the full discretion of the person that owns, controls, operates, or maintains the electrical transmission or distribution lines, except for certain applicable minimum clearance requirements for those lines. Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission, which has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, has established additional vegetation management requirements. Existing law provides that a violation of a rule or order of the commission is a crime and provides that the willful or negligent commission of any acts prohibited or the omission of any acts required by specified laws relating to fire safety is a misdemeanor. This bill would revise and recast those provisions related to electrical lines and abatement activities for a person who owns, controls, operates, or maintains an electrical transmission or distribution line, specifying that abatement activities covered by this law include felling, cutting, or trimming trees. The bill would explicitly require all these line clearance and tree pruning and abatement activities to comply with the commission's vegetation management rules. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would repeal an explicit statement that this electrical line access authorization provides no relief from liability for the removal of vegetation, unless that removal is covered by an applicable easement. The bill would require the identification of hazardous, dead, rotten, diseased, leaning, or structurally defective live trees that are to be felled, cut, or trimmed to be accomplished by using a tree evaluation tool or method, as provided. The bill would make any trees that are felled, cut, or trimmed, if valuable timber or wood, the property of the landowner, unless the landowner requests removal of the wood. The California Energy Infrastructure Safety Act establishes the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety within the Natural Resources Agency and provides that, on and after July 1, 2021, the office is the successor to, and is vested with, all of the duties, powers, and responsibilities of the Wildfire Safety Division of the Public Utilities Commission. The bill would require the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety, on or before April 1, 2022, to develop standardized content to be used to satisfy the landowner notice requirement for vegetation abatement and trimming activities, and standardized content to be used by a landowner to request the removal of wood, as specified. The bill would also require the office, on or before April 1, 2022, to develop a process for a landowner to exercise the opportunity to be heard, as specified, when challenging the proposed traversal of land and any felling, cutting, or trimming of trees. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
(1) Existing law, subject to an annual appropriation in the annual Budget Act, requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to provide funding to counties for allocation to child welfare services agencies to help young adults who are 18 to 24 years of age secure and maintain housing, with priority given to young adults formerly in the state's foster care or probation systems. Existing law suspends this program on December 31, 2021, unless the Department of Finance makes a specified finding. This bill would delete the provisions conditionally suspending that program and subjecting the requirements of the program to an annual appropriation in the Budget Act. The bill would appropriate $8,000,000 annually to fund that program and require the department to allocate and distribute the funds no later than October 1, 2022, and no later than October 1 of each year thereafter. The bill would require a child welfare agency that accepts a distribution of over $10,000 to ensure that data on the demographics and characteristics of those served by the program is entered into the relevant local homeless management information system, as defined. The bill would also require a child welfare agency that accepts any distribution of money to report specified information to the Department of Housing and Community Development on an annual basis. (2) Existing law, the Budget Act of 2019, appropriated $5,000,000 to the Department of Housing and Community Development to allocate to counties for the support of housing navigators to help young adults 18 to 21 years of age, inclusive, secure and maintain housing, with priority given to young adults in the foster care system. This bill would appropriate $5,000,000 annually to the department to allocate and distribute to counties to continue that housing navigator program and require the department to allocate and distribute the funds no later than October 1, 2022, and no later than October 1 of each year thereafter. The bill would require a child welfare agency that accepts a distribution of over $10,000 to ensure that data on the demographics and characteristics of those served by the program is entered into the relevant local homeless management information system, as defined. The bill would also require a child welfare agency that accepts any distribution of money to report specified information to the Department of Housing and Community Development on an annual basis. (3) Existing law establishes the Transitional Housing Placement-Plus program, which provides transitional housing for former foster youth who are at least 18 years of age and, except as specified, not more than 24 years of age. Existing law provides for the establishment of rates to be paid to providers of transitional housing. This bill would establish the THP-Plus Housing Supplement Program, subject to an appropriation in the Budget Act, to supplement the rates paid to Transitional Housing Placement-Plus providers in up to 11 counties. The bill would specify that a county is eligible to receive this supplemental funding if the fair market rent for a 2-bedroom apartment in the county is one of the 11 most expensive in the state during the 2020–21 federal fiscal year. The bill would specify requirements for counties that elect to receive this funding, including, among others, that the county maintain the bed capacity for the Transitional Housing Program-Plus program that the county contracted for in the 2020–21 fiscal year. The bill would also prescribe the method of calculating the amount of supplemental funding a county receives pursuant to this program. (4) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to select and award a grant to a private nonprofit or public entity for the purpose of establishing a statewide multipurpose child welfare training program. Existing law requires the training to provide practice-relevant training to county child protective services social workers who screen referrals for child abuse or neglect and for all workers assigned to provide emergency response, family maintenance, family reunification, and permanent placement services. Existing law requires the training to include specified components, including, among others, use of community resources. This bill would also require the training to include, for social workers and probation officers that serve nonminor dependents, an overview of the housing resources available through the local coordinated entry system, homeless continuum of care, and county public agencies.
The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow a credit (CalCompetes tax credit) against the taxes imposed under those laws, for each taxable year beginning on and after January 1, 2014, and before January 1, 2030, in an amount as provided in a written agreement between the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development and the taxpayer, approved by the California Competes Tax Credit Committee, and based on specified factors, including the number of jobs the taxpayer will create or retain in the state and the amount of investment in the state by the taxpayer. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax credit to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax credit will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill, for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 fiscal years, would increase the total amount of credits that may be allocated by $10,000,000 and would require that those credits be reserved for pharmaceutical companies, as defined. The bill also would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new income tax credit. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, independent institutions of higher education, and private postsecondary educational institutions as the segments of postsecondary education in the state. Existing law requires the California State University, and requests the University of California, to annually report, on or before March 31, to the Legislature on their respective institutional financial aid programs. This bill would additionally require private nonprofit colleges and universities located in California that enroll 500 or more undergraduate students to provide these reports to the Legislature on their institutional financial aid programs. The bill would add the percentage of students graduating with $10,000 or more in debt and prescribed information related to the size of financial aid packages to the data required to be included in these reports. The bill would also require all California-based postsecondary educational institutions with endowment funds where the ratio of endowment dollars to enrolled students exceeds 200,000 to 1, or where the total endowment exceeds $1,000,000,000, to report designated information to the Legislature on their respective college endowment funds on or before March 31 of each odd-numbered year, commencing in 2023.
Under existing law, a peace officer is justified in using deadly force when the officer reasonably believes, based on the totality of the circumstances, that such force is necessary to defend against an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to the officer or another person, or to apprehend a fleeing felon, as specified. Existing law requires each law enforcement agency to maintain a policy that provides guidelines on the use of force, and to annually furnish specified information to the Department of Justice regarding the use of force by peace officers employed by that agency. Existing law requires the Attorney General to investigate incidents of an officer-involved shooting resulting in the death of an unarmed civilian, as specified. This bill would, for deadly use of force incidents other than those required to be investigated by the Attorney General, require an agency to cause a criminal investigation of these incidents to be conducted, and would prohibit a law enforcement agency from having primary responsibility for conducting the criminal investigation into those incidents involving an officer employed by that agency. This bill would instead provide alternative protocols for investigations of those incidents, including investigation by the district attorney's office, another law enforcement agency, or a multidisciplinary and multiagency task force. The bill would specify that these requirements apply only to a criminal investigation and not to any administrative or disciplinary investigation. The bill would also require each agency to adopt a written policy, or amend their existing written policy on the criminal investigation of officer-involved deadly use of force incidents, to be compliant with the requirements of this bill, and to make that policy available to the public, as specified. By placing new requirements on local law enforcement agencies, this bill would impose a state mandate. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law generally regulates classes of insurance, including pet insurance. Under existing law, pet insurance is an individual or group insurance policy that provides coverage for veterinary expenses, which are defined as the costs associated with medical advice, diagnosis, care, or treatment provided by a veterinarian. This bill would expand the definition of veterinary expenses to include costs associated with medical advice, diagnosis, care, or treatment provided by a person working under the direction of a veterinarian. The bill would require a pet insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2022, to provide full coverage for a sterilization surgery and the veterinary expenses associated with, or arising from, the sterilization surgery, and would prohibit an insurer from accepting or requiring an additional payment for sterilization surgery. The bill would require a notice of cancellation for a pet insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2022, to be delivered at least 20 calendar days before the effective date of the cancellation, or at least 10 calendar days before the effective date in cases of nonpayment of premiums or fraud.
The Political Reform Act of 1974 imposes various limitations on contributions that may be made to, or accepted by, candidates for elective office. The act generally prohibits a person from making a contribution totaling more than $3,000 to a candidate for elective state office, and a candidate for elective state office from accepting a contribution totaling more than $3,000, except as specified. A violation of the act's provisions is punishable as a misdemeanor and subject to specified penalties. This bill would prohibit an electrical corporation or a gas corporation, as defined, from making a contribution to a candidate for elective state office. The bill would also prohibit a candidate for elective state office from accepting a contribution from an electrical corporation or a gas corporation. The bill would clarify that it does not prohibit the making or acceptance of an independent expenditure or a contribution to a political party or political party committee, a legal defense fund, an officeholder account, a small contributor committee, a political action committee, or a candidate controlled ballot measure committee, except as otherwise prohibited by law. By expanding the scope of existing crimes with regard to contribution limitations, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
